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Rear Adm. Tom Druggan is commander of the 8-Division strong Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) HQ. He leads more than 18,000 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel located across the United States. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Druggan is a 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and previously commanded the Aegis ballistic missile defense […]

In the past, service members would receive $225.00 per month IDP if they spent any part of that month in an area where IDP was authorized. That changed when President Barack Obama signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act into law on Dec. 31, 2011.

Service members will now be paid $7.50 per day only for the days they actually spend in areas that qualify for IDP.

“This is a more targeted way of handling that pay,” says Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby, U.S. Navy.

IDP is paid to service members on duty “in foreign areas where they are subject to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger because of civil insurrection, civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions,” according to the DoD. Some of the countries currently eligible include:

Afghanistan

Colombia

Congo, Dem Rep of

Cote d’Ivoire

Iraq

Kenya

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Lebanon

Pakistan

Philippines

“Members will see the prorated amount in their Feb. 15 pay records,” Kirby says. The services are working to waive any debts incurred by overpayments in January, when service members were paid before DoD implemented the changes, but after the law had officially taken effect.

According to DoD regulations, however, anyone coming under fire, regardless of whether they are in an areas qualifying for imminent danger pay, will still receive the full hostile fire pay of $225 for the month.

Hostile fire pay takes effect if a service member “takes hostile fire or is exposed to an explosion of a mine; is in a unit engaged in hostile action; or is killed, injured, or wounded by hostile fire or explosion of a hostile mine,” according to DoD documents. “An individual can collect hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay, but not both simultaneously.”

They are screwing our underpaid GI’s again. I would like to see what they would want to be paid if they were exposed to enemy fire etc. They are a bunch of cowards that depend on our soldiers to9 risk their lives for them and then dump on them when it comes to how much they are paid. This law must be repealed and our soldier’s pay reinstated and/or raised.

From what I understand, this would mean, if she or he’s in Afghanistan for 14 days, she or he’ll get $7.50 per day for the 14 days, or $105.00. Now, if the soldier is fired on, he or she’ll get the full $225.00 for the month, but IDP and hostile fire pay are never paid together . In other words, say you’re in Afghanistan for 14 days, and you’re expecting $105. If you’re fired on you’ll get the full hostile fire pay of $225.00 for being fired on, but you don’t get the $105.00 in addition to that. Basically, you’re getting a maximum of $225.00.